In Japan, it was recommended to add your usernames and passwords to wills

The National Center for Consumer Affairs of Japan invited citizens of the country to take care of “digital end-of-life planning” and gave advice on how to do this in the best possible way. In particular, it was recommended to include logins and passwords for accounts on different platforms in the texts of wills.

Image source: Roméo A. / unsplash.com

The department resorted to this non-standard recommendation in connection with a number of incidents in which citizens had difficulty canceling subscriptions issued by their loved ones before death because they did not know the usernames and passwords for the accounts. Dealing with such “digital legacy” can indeed be difficult, so the center has developed four steps to solve this problem. The citizen is recommended:

• Make sure his family can unlock his smartphone or computer in the event of an emergency;
• Maintain a list of completed subscriptions with usernames and passwords;
• Enter this data into a document that will come into force upon the person’s death;
• Use a service that allows you to designate someone who will have access to a smartphone and other accounts after the citizen passes away.

The department proposes to resolve all these issues in advance, since discovering and settling a person’s expenses after his death can sometimes be difficult. With the widespread use of smartphones, fears are growing that people will increasingly be unable to complete the digital affairs of their loved ones and stop charges from cards for services that the deceased will no longer be able to use.